Stacy pointed me to this nytimes article about travelling in Berkeley. Let me just say... LAME. This writer doesn't know what he's talking about. I mean, Blake's??? C'mon now. We aren't juniors in undergrad anymore. With Stacy's input, here are some MUCH better suggestions.
Note: the photograph on the right has no relevance (it used to be my wallpaper after I saw it on BBC a long time ago. It's showing celebrations of an Indian holiday - Basanta Utsav I think?)
Day 1 (College Ave)
Breakfast: Rick and Ann's
- You can walk around the Claremont hotel area. There are some cute shops to look at while you wait.
- Theoretically you could go to the spa at the Claremont like the article suggests, but who really has that much money to throw away?
Lunch: Zachary's
- The wait for dinner is way too long, so lunch is a better option.
- You can walk down college towards Rockridge where there are a ton of boutiques like Pretty Penny.
Dinner: A Cote
- While you're in the Rockridge area anyway, you must dine here!
Alternate Dinner choice: Trattoria La Siciliana
- Cute family-owned Italian restaurant
Dessert: Ici
- They have some interesting ice cream flavors and there's ALWAYS a line.
- There are also a lot of great shops to peruse around the Elmwood area (like Jeremy's), as well as a movie theater.
Day 2 (Shattuck)
Breakfast: La Note
- Go before 10am!
Lunch: Brazil Cafe, + Cheeseboard + Gregoire
- Grab a tri-tip sandwich to go, then head over for a slice of pizza and potato puffs!
- This is a must in Berkeley. Squat on the island and listen to some nice jazz while enjoying your food!
- This area is a nice walk to the Berkeley Rose Garden.
- It's also close to the original Peet's on Vine.
- Guerilla Cafe is another great coffee shop close by.
Dinner: Chez Panisse
- The epitome of Californian cuisine.
Alternate Dinner choice: Rivoli on Solano
- Obviously not everyone can eat at Chez Panisse.
- Not in the same area, but not too far away. Also close to the Indian Rock.
Dessert: La Farine (one on Solano, and one on College)
- This French bakery closes at 7pm, so it's best to get the pastries ahead of time and save them for dessert
Day 3 (University/San Pablo)
Breakfast: Can't Fail Cafe
- Diner with an edge in Emeryville. I think it's owned by one of the members of Green Day.
- They have a great veggie burger (if you want burgers for breakfast)
Lunch: Thai Temple
- Thai food made by Buddhist monks only on Sundays! How more Berkeley can you get
Dinner: Vik's
- Authentic Indian food (very large Indian community in Berkeley)
Dessert: Sketch
- Head over there early because they have weird hours.
- The 4th Street area also has a lot of great boutiques and the exotic animal store.
Hmm... you can't see all of Berkeley in 3 days! So here's a bonus:
Day 4 (Campus life)
[No Breakfast because by then you'll be tired and will want to sleep in]
Lunch: Intermezzo
- Get a nice fresh salad to balance out all the glutton of the days before
- Can take a stroll around campus, down Telegraph (Momoca is a Japanese boutique and one of my faves)
- Hike up to Tilden
Dinner: Durant food court (aka Asian ghetto)
- Steve's, Meesha's, Gypsy's... it's all good and cheap
Post-Dinner snack: Top Dog, Fat Slice, La Burrita
Dessert: Quickly/Sweethearts/Papamingo
- Read: boba/frozen yogurt
Ta da! And that's how you really do it in Berkeley. Silly New Yorkers.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Berkeley in 36 hours (an eating schedule)
Monday, March 03, 2008
Asian Food in the Sticks
At Geoffrey's request, here is my list of Asian food in the Richmond/Sunset
richmond:
- shanghai dumpling king (balboa & 34th): good xiao long bao (ghetto and dirty)
- shanghai house (balboa & 38th): hand-cut noodles
- oyaji (clement& 33rd): japanese tavern food
- burma superstar (clement & 4th): burmese - super trendy, long wait, but good!
- mandalay (california & 5th): burmese - less trendy, no wait, still good! and cheaper than burma superstar. the "special noodles" are really good
- tofu house (geary & 11th): korean tofu soup
- brothers (geary & 3rd i think): korean bbq
- taste of formosa (clement & 26th i think): taiwanese
- kitaro (geary & 18th i think): cheap japanese/sushi
- mayflower (geary & 27th): chinese - good for specialty dishes (and more expensive), supposedly good dim sum
sunset:
- san tung (irving & 11th): korean chinese, good dry fried chicken, dumplings, spicy peanut noodles
- "korean restaurant" (taraval & 40th i think): don't know the real name, but there's a sign outside that says "korean restaurant"
- cheung hing (irving & 30-something?): good BBQ pork
- PPQ (irving & 19th): pho and other vietnamese food
- pho hua (irving & 19th): I like their pho better, but some of my friends don't agree
- south seafood village (irving & 15th): decent dim sum
- ebisu (9th? & irving): decent sushi (a bit on the expensive side)
- hotei (9th? & irving): decent udon
Friday, April 27, 2007
TOP 5 things to eat in financial without trekking to the ferry building in 73 degree weather
Side note: I'm trying to capitalize and punctuate as a discipline, in case you've noticed my writing looking a little more formal than usual.
It's so nice! Even when it's relatively hot in the bay area, San Francisco is usually 10 degrees cooler than most cities, but today the weather is great here! I don't feel like working, so TOP 5 it is!
1. Vietnamese vermicelli: it's light, not greasy or oily, and the citrus tang is perfect for warm days. Don't go to a Vietnamese restaurant and order pho! That's just silly. =)
2. Jamba Juice
3. Iced coffee: one of my coworkers always gets an iced coffee any time the sun is out. Perfect combination for the warm food-coma-inducing office atmosphere.
4. Salad/Sandwich: there are SO many good salad/sandwich places in the area! Focaccia (my favorite) and Mixt Greens are the best. Seller's Market, Mondo Caffe, Specialty's, Lightning, and Birley's are all pretty decent too. The main reason why Foccacia is the best is the price. Who wants to pay $10 for a salad when you can pay $5??
5. Crepe with strawberries: I'm actually not a huge fan of crepes and would rather just eat strawberries by themselves (especially since they're in season), but I don't really think you can do that around here (unless you brought it from home).
Thursday, March 22, 2007
TOP 5 ramen joints if you're an old man (or not)
guest contributor: ze faja
Santa – try the stew pork and the chicken is really good too. Tofu is so-so. Long wait. Wear sneakers so you can sprint to the head of the wait line from your car and keep an eye on competing sprinters (in other cars) in case they jump the gun!
Maruichi – good set lunch which comes with
Ringer Hut – their Nagasaki Champon noodle is pretty tasty and you can order the set lunch A, which includes a small dish of fried rice. A good size and nice place with plenty of space.
Mifune – in J-Town upstairs. Offer large variety of set lunch options and you can choose ramen or udon. Kathy was not a fan of this place.
Suzu – in J-Town downstairs. Small place and normally crowded.
** I've witnessed the Santa Ramen madness and it's pretty ridiculous. If no one's lined up before it's opened, that means everyone is waiting in their cars hawking the other parked cars. Intense! I would've also added Ryowa in both Berkeley and Mountain View. -kathy
Sunday, December 24, 2006
best of trader joe's
trader joe's is seriously the best market ever (aside from farmer's markets). here are my favorites:
SNACKS
- pita chips
- 3-layer hummus: cilantro, regular, and spicy. they also sell the cilantro hummus alone
- spinach + artichoke dip
- soy crisps: look & feel similar to rice cakes, but 10 times better. more like chips
- almond, pistachio, & dried cherry trail mix
- olive bruschetta
- normal bruschetta
JARRED SAUCES
- indian masala sauce
- cuban mojito simmer sauces
- thai green curry sauce
berkeley bites
with this new topical format, everything's more organized, but some restaurants might fall into multiple categories, so please be patient with repeats!
note: for any non-berkeley people, "the ghetto" = food court on durant between telegraph & bowditch
AROUND CAMPUS
- intermezzo (telegraph): sandwiches & salads
- naan n' curry (telegraph): indian fast food - chicken tiki masala mmm
- meesha's (ghetto): their chicken plate is something i ALWAYS get whenever i visit
- thai house (channing & telegraph)
- durant cafe: above the ghetto. good breakfast
- fat slice (telegraph)
- top dog (across from the ghetto)
- la burrita (across from the ghetto)
- gypsy's (ghetto): italian fast food - heavy, but satisfying
- sweetheart's (ghetto): second best cheap boba
- quickly (ghetto): best cheap boba
- ann's kitchen (telegraph): decent breakfast
- cafe milano (bancroft): turkey + roasted bell pepper sandwich is SO GOOD. don't just study here!
NORTH BERKELEY
- rivoli (solano area): nice italian restaurant
- chez panisse: nice californian resetaurant. focus is on the ingredients
- cesar: tapas and drinks are good, but the service is snotty
- la paz
- gregoire: best french/californian food to go!
- cheeseboard: sauceless pizza made with uber californian ingredients. the cheese shop is fun =)
4th ST. AREA
- vic's: indian in a warehouse
- sketch: homemade gelato with amazing flavors
- eccolo: nice french/californian place
COLLEGE AVE.
- zachary's: deep dish chicago-style pizza (heavy on tomatoes)
- a cote: small plates french/californian
- la trattoria siciliana: family-owned tiny italian place
- ici: cute ice cream shop with strange flavors
- la mediterranee: mediterranean food!
- crepevine
OTHER
- rick & ann's: best breakfast food ever by the claremont hotel
- thai temple
- la note: good breakfast but a bit overrated (still good though)
- k
recs for visitors
tired of xanga, and trying to convert to the new google blogger. it would take too long to transfer everything to this blog, so here are some of the best restaurants in the bay, in short and according to kathy.
ASIAN
- san tung: chinese-korean on irving between 11th & 12th ave (sunset district). the chicken wings (order them "dry"), dumplings, peanut noodles, or spicy combo noodle soup
- mandalay: burmese-chinese on california between 5th & 6th ave (richmond district). the "special noodles" and the green beans are good.
- burma superstar: burmese on clement & 4th ave (richmond district). i actually think mandalay is better, but burma superstar is really popular and yuppified.
- shanghai dumpling king: ghetto chinese on balboa & 34th ave (richmond district). the soup dumplings (xiao long bao) and green beans are good here. it's pretty much a hole-in-the-wall place though
- oyaji: traditional japanese on clement & 33rd. i've never been there, but it's supposed to be really good (says my japanese friend)
- thai temple: thai in berkeley from a thai buddhist temple. some of the most authentic in the bay area (i think). total berkeley hippie place haha
- vic's: indian in berkeley in a literal warehouse. very authentic (according to my indian friends haha)
- salang pass: afghan in fremont. really good
- nirvana: asian fusion on castro & 18th st. (castro district). good noodles and pretty cheap
- santa ramen: tiny noodle house in san mateo
SMALL PLATES
- levende lounge: "world fusion" on mission and 15th st (mission district). the mini lamb burgers are sooo good
- a cote: french small plates in berkeley on college
- cha cha cha: there are 2 locations - one around haight & ashbury, and another on mission & not exactly tapas, but a good place to go with a group. they have good (and cheap) sangria
- pesce: seafood on polk & vallejo (in russian hill). scallops are good. squid ink risotto good, too. good drinks
- isa: californian on steiner & lombard (marina district). sea bass is really good. very trendy and yuppified.
CALIFORNIAN
- gregoire: french/californian on shattuck near chez panisse in berkeley. their potato puffs (fried mashed potatoes, kind of) are really good.
- pacific catch: seafood on chestnut & fillmore (marina district). the crispy oysters, sweet potato fries, and the wasabi bowls (like an open sushi) are good
- delfina: italian/californian on 18th & guerrero. the first time i went it was amazing; second wasn't.
- zazie: californian on cole & carl (cole valley). good brunch - poached eggs
- 1550 hyde cafe: californian on hyde & pacific (russian hill). food is pretty good, but a bit salty.
OTHER:
- aziza: moroccan on geary & 22nd (or 23rd i forgot). their cous cous is really good. their food has a lot of flavor
- kan zaman: mediterranean around haight & ashbury. good spiced wine. the food's ok. good for groups
- limon: trendy peruvian on valencia & 16th st (mission district). good ceviche, truffled mac n cheese, and snapper
- clementine: authentic french on clement & 2nd ave (richmond district). the desserts are amazing, especially the french toast. you HAVE to try it!
- k